[REVIEW] Porsche Design 1/18 Carrera 6 (906)

So, here goes my first review on LaLD.

This summer my wife and I went on vacation to Germany; my wife had a friend/former coworker from Germany who was getting married. That was a good enough excuse to spend 10 days in a beautiful country we'd never been to and it had been a couple years since we had been on a proper vacation.

The wedding was near Stuttgart, so I made sure to drag my wife to both the Porsche and Mercedes Benz museums. As a special souvenir for myself, I picked out this Porsche Design Carrera 6. (I was hoping they would have a model of the Pink Pig, but no such luck.) I chose this particular model because it was reasonably priced, and a relatively obscure model that I would have a hard time finding elsewhere. The model is branded Porsche Design, though the back of the box indicates that it is manufactured by Minichamps.

I am not very familiar with Porsche's earlier racing history, so I had to research this model a bit. Introduced in 1966, the 906 was Porsche's last road-legal race car, using 15-inch wheels mounted to the car with 5 nuts. The later variation, the 906/10 (910) switched to the 13-inch wheels used in Formula 1 with center-lock wheels, which were lighter and allowed for faster pit stops, but made the car no longer street legal. 50 examples were built for homologation requirements of FIA's Group 4 Sports Car category. The 906 used a tubular steel space frame with an unstressed fiberglass body and weighed only 1280 lb. It was fitted with a 2.0L 6-cylinder with 220 hp. At its debut in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, it finished 6th overall and first in its class, beating the Ferrari Dino. In the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 906 finished 4-5-6-7 behind the three Ford GT40s.

Design and Accuracy: 8/10

This being a Porsche Design model, I believe they left the body blank to highlight the design of the bodywork, without the distractions of livery and sponsorship decals. (googling Minichamp versions of the model, there appears to be quite a few variations of livery available) The look is clean and classic. Proportion and detailing are good. While not AutoArt levels of detail, you can certainly tell that this is a premium model. The rear "glass" is properly tinted a yellowish color to match the actual race cars.

Fit and Finish: 7/10

The model is very nicely built, with a well detailed engine bay and 'frunk' compartment, with a rubber spare tire. Some of the shut lines are a little uneven, specifically around the removable frunk lid. The doors open wide with smooth motion and discreet "hinges" (they actually slide, and will pop off if you open them too far). The dash doesn't appear to be super detailed, but the seats are flocked to simulate upholstery and the steering wheel is precisely painted. Likewise, the engine doesn't have a ton of detail, but what is there is nicely finished

Features: 7/10

Doors open, engine and trunk covers are removable, and the front wheels are steerable, though there is no suspension movement. For some reason, I forgot to take a picture of the car with all of the features opened. The rear engine cover is hinged, but also removable. It would be nice if there was a prop rod for the engine cover, but it looks good completely removed as well.

Value: 6/10

I paid ~€95 for the model at the Porsche Museum, which converts to ~$120. Browsing Ebay, it appears current pricing is $180 in the US, ~$125 in Europe, though for American buyers, shipping would be rather expensive. I think the price I paid is a decent value for the quality. At $180, I would probably rather spend that money on something else.

Rarity: 7/10

For this particular style, it appears that there are 3 currently listed in the US on Ebay, with 5 more available in Germany and Austria. If you are looking for other liveries, there are more options, including long-tail variants. According to the seller of one of the US listings, only 1000 were made for Porsche. I have no way of verifying that claim, but if true, you probably won't find too many for sale at any given time.

Final Score 35/50

This is a solid, mid-priced model, firmly positioned between the mass market brands and the more premium brands. The quality of the build makes it a great addition to anyone's collection, especially those with extensive Porsche collections. It has a bit more sentimental value for me than most models, being representative of my trip to Germany. I can't wait to get a proper display setup so it can park among its Porsche brethren.